Twine



Jan. 10, 1956 w. w. CRAWFORD TWINE Filed July 12, 1952 FIG.

FIG. 2.

INVENTOR. WILLIAM W. CRAWFORD ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofiice 2,729,933 Patented Jan. 10, 1956 TWINE William W. Crawford, Whitemarsh, Pa., assignor to The Schlichter Jute Cordage Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application July 12, 1952, Serial No. 298,596

1 Claim. (Cl. 57-140) This invention relates to twine and methods of making the same and has particular reference to a twine incorporating glass fibers.

A twine of high tensile strength may be produced in the form of a yarn of glass fibers having a small amount of twist and held together by a resin coating. This twine, however, is not suitable for baling in which it is spirally wound about a bale without knotting in that it is too slippery and will readily shift position in rela tion to hay or straw which is being baled.

It is the general object of the present invention to provide a twine having the desirable characteristics resulting from the use of glass fibers but involving frictional characteristics so that it will not shift its position with respect to material baled thereby.

The attainment of this object as well as other objects particularly relating to methods of formation of improved twines will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic elevation showing one form of twine provided in accordance with the invention; and

Figure 2 is a similar view showing an alternative form of twine provided in accordance with the invention.

Referring first to Figure 1, there is indicated therein a yarn 2 formed of glass fibers of a slightly twisted type, with the fibers held somewhat loosely together by virtue of being coated with a resinous or plastic material. Such a yarn is known but in itself is unsatisfactory for use as a baler twine which is not knotted because it is quite slippery.

In accordance with the invention such a glass fiber yarn is converted into a satisfactory twine by twisting with it a vegetable fiber yarn indicated at 4 which may,

for example, be a conventional jute or similar yarn.

The amount of twist imparted to the component yarns is not critical but, for example, one and a third complete twists per inch have been found highly satisfactory. The relative weights of the two yarns are also not critical but satisfactory results have been obtained i using approximately equal weights of the glass fiber yarn and jute yarn per unit length. The twine shown in Figure 1 does not require the two yarns to be ad hered together, and consequently the resinous or plastic coating may be utilized only in the glass fiber yarn to aid in holding the fibers assembled and improving re sistance to abrasion. If desired, however, the yarn of glass fiber and the yarn of jute or the like may be assembled and twisted and the resinous coating then applied, in which case the coating will tend to hold together both the glass and vegetable fibers. In either case, the resin or plastic may be applied as a spray or by dipping, the resin or plastic being dissolved in a suitable volatile solvent. A wide variety of resins or plastics 2 may be used for this purpose and as an example vinyl plastics have been satisfactorily used.

The sizes of the glass fibers used are relatively immaterial, there being used, of course, fibers of sufliciently small cross-section as to give rise to a yarn of suflicient flexibility for the particular use involved. While jute has been referred to as the material constituting the organic fiber yarn, it will be evident that various other yarns of vegetable fiber such as sisal, manila or the like may be used, as well as other organic fibers, including synthetic ones.

Twines provided in accordance with the above exhibit the high tensile strength of the glass fiber yarn but, at the same time, have surface frictional characteristics by virtue of the presence of the organic fiber yarn so that slippage is minimized between the twine and the material bound thereby. In particular, the twine provided in accordance with the present invention has been found highly satisfactory in use in rotary baling in which binding is effected by a spiral wrap of the binder twine without knotting. Heretofore, sisal binder twine has been used exclusively for this purpose. In this particular use, the twine remains in binding position by reason of friction with the hay or straw baled, the hay or straw expanding outwardly against the convolutions of the twine which are frictionally held against lengthwise slippage.

A less expensive but equally satisfactory twine may be provided in accordance with Figure 2 which shows a glass fiber yarn 6 of the type previously described which is coated with a resin, plastic, glue or other adhesive in a suitable solvent or liquid carrier, and while the liquid remains incompletely evaporated, there is provided a surface coating in the form of loose jute, waste, or other fibers applied by a flocking method. When the liquid finally evaporates, these fibers remain adhered to the surface of the glass yarn, providing surface friction which will prevent slippage of the yarn on material bound thereby. In this modification the vegetable fiber of course contributes little, if anything, to the tensile strength of the twine, the tensile strength being due to the glass fibers.

While there has been particularly stressed the application of the improved twine to rotary baling in which knotting is not involved, it will be evident that the twine may be knotted in other uses and the vegetable fiber content will provide knot-holding friction and cushioning of the glass fibers to minimize breakage.

It will be evident from the foregoing that various departures may be made from what has been described to provide satisfactory twines in accordance with the invention and without departing from the scope thereof as defined in the following claim.

What is claimed is:

A twine comprising a resin-coated glass fiber yarn and jute fibers held in association therewith by said resin coating and imparting to the twine a friction surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNlTlED STATES PATENTS 2,132,702 Simpson Oct. 11, 1938 2,133,237 Slayter Oct. 11, 1938 2,146,314 Radford Feb. 7, 1939 2,224,274 Powers Dec. 10, 1940 2,313,058 Francis, Jr. Mar. 9, 1943 2,388,140 Hall, Jr. Oct. 30, 1945 2,448,782 Davis Sept. 7, 1948 2,475,083 Davis July 5, 1949 2,671,306 Slayter -n Mar. 9, 1954 

